Under the agreement, Abbott will make a one-time $400 million license payment to Reata. The collaboration covers a "large number" of molecules in various therapeutic areas, including pulmonary conditions, central nervous system disorders and immunology. The two companies will equally share costs and profits for all new AIMs in all newly licensed indications other than rheumatoid arthritis and select other autoimmune disease indications. In those disease categories, Abbott will take 70 percent of costs and profits and Reata will take 30 percent.

The transaction also includes a research agreement, in which the companies will collaborate on the discovery of new molecules that exhibit the same pharmacology as the AIMs that are already in Reata's pipeline. The firms anticipate that the first compound in their collaboration will enter into clinical testing sometime next year.

The companies noted that this new agreement is in addition to the partnership they established in September 2010. Under that agreement, Reata granted Abbott exclusive rights to develop and commercialize its lead AIM compound, bardoxolone methyl, in territories outside of the United States except certain Asian markets.